This guide describes the steps you can take to create a course that is both engaging and adheres to the Blackboard Universal Standards (BUS)
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Consult | Collaborate | Create
A recipe for creating engaging content in Blackboard Ultra
Designing Discussion Forums That Actually Work: A Learning Designer’s Perspective
Why Discussion Forums Still Matter As learning designers, we often hear the same refrain: “Students don’t use discussion boards,” and yet, when designed with intention, online discussion spaces can become spaces where thinking becomes visible, where misconceptions surface, and where
Read moreiSolutions at Disability Now: Building Tools, Sharing Knowledge, Removing Barriers
On 18 November 2025, over 100 colleagues gathered for the University of Southampton’s Disability Now! symposium. The event brought together academic staff, professional services colleagues, students, and community partners to explore how disabled people shape our University and how we
Read moreBeyond Barriers: Prioritising Inclusion in Challenging Times
Introduction The 2025 National Association of Disability Practitioners (NADP) Annual Conference, “Beyond Barriers: Prioritising Inclusion in Challenging Times,” brought together disability practitioners, educators, learning technologists, and sector leaders. Over two days, attendees engaged with sessions from practitioners, professional and regulatory
Read moreIntroducing AI Structure Generator in Blackboard Ultra
We’re excited to announce the arrival of AI Structure Generator part of the new Design Assistant in Blackboard Ultra. The AI Structure Generator is a new AI-powered feature designed to give you suggestions for Ultra Learning Modules, the building blocks
Read moreImage alt-text catalogue: Ignite Internship Output
Hi my name is Siobhan and I am a student intern, working with the Digital Learning Team in creating an image description catalogue in support of digital accessibility. I am a first year Psychology student studying at the University of Southampton. I
Read moreDigiFest 2025 – Three minute reflection
This year I was invited to the Digifest 2025 conference, because I was being recognised as a JISC Community Champion. (So no organising hotels and trains for me!) Hosted by JISC, Digifest brings together educators, technologists, and policymakers to discuss
Read more2024 Internship Reflections
These blog post shares reflections on chosen summer activities from our 2024 interns. Each of the reflections has been crafted using the STAR model as our interns were all stars! Accessibility Allies This summer, I had the incredible opportunity to
Read more‘Digital skills in AI + Generative AI’ – Introducing the Discovery Tool’s questionnaire
AI – and particularly Generative AI which involves creating new content such as images or text from prompts – have gained considerable attention. With so many new tools and uses for Artificial Intelligence and Generative AI, it can be difficult
Read moreDigital tips and tricks – Our first DigiSkills day
On Thursday, November 16th, we held the very first DigiSkills day in the Hartley Library foyer from 11:00 to 15:00 pm. The event shared digital tips and tricks…
Read morePixel Predicaments
In this post I discuss the ethical issues that are developing with the use of some AI image generation services.
Read moreCreating educational video content
The impact of video in our everyday life is unquestionable. Video content has become increasingly popular in recent years due to the prioritisation of short-form video content. This traces back to the early 2000s when platforms like YouTube and Vimeo
Read moreBlackboard and VLE Awards: 5 Years of New Faculties
We are in our eleventh year of the Blackboard and VLE Awards, seeking the very best examples of online learning across the university. Since 2013, there have been many readjustments to the University’s way of working, but most notably for the awards was the restructure of faculties in 2018. In the 5 years since, it is interesting to consider how each faculty has performed in the awards.
Read moreDLT Media Studio
Who are we? Within Digital Learning, the media producers work closely with our learning designers to design and develop educational and promotional media assets, for the university. These can range from: Want to book a tour? Our studio is in
Read moreDigital Universities Conference 2023
The Times Higher Education Digital Universities UK conference took place over 4 days from 17th to 20th April. The event brought together those working at the intersection of academic innovation and technology under one roof. The purpose of the event
Read moreDigital Learning Intern – The Roadshow Event
My first day as an intern began with an informative roadshow event which worked to introduce and familiarise the many roles and responsibilities at the Education Services. It was exciting to see how changes are being made across higher education
Read moreiSolutions Education Services Roadshow
Education Services were thrilled to launch their first roadshow event earlier this week to demonstrate the range of support they can offer. The roadshow, which ran from 10am-2pm on Monday in the Centenary building, featured a guest talk from the
Read moreHow did we make the University’s Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) submission more accessible?
The process was a great learning exercise and provided hands-on experience for those involved in the principles of accessible documents.
Read moreCelebrating LGBT+ History Month
This month is LGBT+ History month. LGBT+ History Month is a month-long celebration that recognises the triumphs and legacy of LGBT+ historical figures. This is in aid to promote equality and diversity in our society and communities. Our team would
Read moreReflection: ATHEN STEM Conference: Starting with Math
Recently, I attended a two-day conference where experts shared their best practices, solutions and techniques, for accessing and creating accessible STEM content in higher education. This conference will inform strategies for creating accessible STEM content. The event started at 05:00
Read moreBest Fully Online Course: Blackboard & VLE Awards
For this year’s 10th anniversary of the University’s Blackboard & VLE Awards, there are 10 award categories for staff nominations. In this blog post, the featured category is ‘Best Fully Online Course’ and we are sharing an interactive ThingLink presentation.
Read moreInnovative & Creative Courses: Blackboard & VLE Awards
For this year’s 10th anniversary of the University’s Blackboard & VLE Awards, there are 10 award categories for staff nominations. In this blog post the featured category is ‘Innovative and creative courses’ and we are sharing an interactive ThingLink presentation.
Read moreBest development of employability skills: Blackboard and VLE Awards
For this year’s 10th anniversary of the University’s Blackboard & VLE Awards, there are 10 award categories for staff nominations. In this blog post, we focus on courses that shine when it comes to development of student employability skills.
Read moreLearning Designer: 6 months in the post
I started at the University of Southampton in the role of Learning Designer. When I mentioned to friends and family that I was joining the University of Southampton. Curiously, they would respond with “Get ready for the big leagues!”
Read moreChanges to our Media Team
Due to some staffing changes, our always in-demand Media Team will be operating at a reduced capacity for the early part of next year. Team Lead From the 17th of December we say a temporary goodbye to Sofia Bazzini, Media
Read more360 camera review by Peter Morgan
Digital Learning Media team have some kit to loan out to encourage everyone to have a go at creating their own media. Recently, Peter Morgan from the School of Geography and Environmental Science requested the loan of the Nikon Keymission
Read moreGoodbye to our Accessibility Allies intern team
Since mid-July we have been working with a team of 5 interns. They have improved the accessibility scores of Blackboard Modules and contributed to various communications about the project. Emily, Stefan, Velina, and Sian are returning to their studies as
Read moreAn Accessibility Allies intern journey
Introduction Hi! My name is Sian, and I am a soon to be second-year student at the University of Southampton. During this summer I wanted to challenge myself – in the form of an internship (which I had never done
Read moreFrom online learning to an Accessibility Ally
Picture this, 5 months studying in Norway, exploring new places, feeling refreshed ready to start the second half of my third year of University back in Southampton. I managed to have all of January off as I didn’t have exams, so was
Read moreSpring cleaning your Blackboard sites: are you environmentally-friendly and accessible?
A new norm- Yes, it’s a phrase that divides the audience. Some of us are weary of the over used phrases (unprecedented, anyone?). Others are excited at the prospect of real change. In education I don’t think we really want
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